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What about a utopian city with all necessities available for free. Food, housing, basic clothing, whatever. All provided by an immortal necromancer/possibly lich-like creature under one condition: When you die, your bones and spirit join the workforce that provides all these things for the residents. It's a place of opulent luxury, breathtaking art, and diverse cuisine.

Yet beyond the city walls, vast fields tilled by blankly staring skeletons as far as the eye can see. Glowing spirits patrol the sewers, watching for monsters.

And within the castle of the city's king? Well, that's where the true horrors may or may not lie.

Oh in 2e you had to be super-duper-powerful to make permanent skeletons or zombies which didn't quite mesh with how common they were

The answer to this and your previous question is that the rules for classes, spells and such are for PCs. They are absolutely not for NPCs. The NPCs and monsters controlled by the DM are not and should not be limited to the spell lists in the books or the PC oriented classes.

What about a utopian city with all necessities available for free. Food, housing, basic clothing, whatever. All provided by an immortal necromancer/possibly lich-like creature under one condition: When you die, your bones and spirit join the workforce that provides all these things for the residents. It's a place of opulent luxury, breathtaking art, and diverse cuisine.

Yet beyond the city walls, vast fields tilled by blankly staring skeletons as far as the eye can see. Glowing spirits patrol the sewers, watching for monsters.

And within the castle of the city's king? Well, that's where the true horrors may or may not lie.

also undead backed protection would probably be at big banks. local branches in the suburbs probably aren't nearly important enough to waste such a thing on. maybe it has armed guards, but that's probably about it.

unless there was a secret artifact stored there. or something dramatic.

Iunno, i am spit balling ideas hoping someone wants to run with these, because that is how i operate.

Disney becomes so dedicated to holding onto the mouse they animate Walt Disney as a copyright loophole around it expiring so many years after the creators death. Because his in undeath is their legal loophole they keep his ravenous brain craving body protected in the Disney Vault. The players are hired to expire this copyright.

Oh in 2e you had to be super-duper-powerful to make permanent skeletons or zombies which didn't quite mesh with how common they were

The answer to this and your previous question is that the rules for classes, spells and such are for PCs. They are absolutely not for NPCs. The NPCs and monsters controlled by the DM are not and should not be limited to the spell lists in the books or the PC oriented classes.

I get sort of...bummed out? at how magic is a really common thing in D&D. Plus necromancy should be something terriyfing to people, so if I were running something that featured common necromancy, I'd lean in hard on what it said about that society and its flaws. It would almost to be either a group of people so desperate that they gave up all their morals to survive, and what that meant now that the threat had passed, or it would be a massively dystopian society where the undead took work from the living, resulting in a huge gap between the haves and the havenots.

But I'd prolly lean more into the idea that magic is about change, it bends with the universe towards dynamism, towards entropy, but necromancy is the opposite of that. It's stillness, its static and unchanging. So it's a taboo in that it's raising the dead, but it's also the great magical taboo. I'd probably make undead give off a necromatic aura that kills plant life and such. Even one zombie could wipe out a decent amount of living things. An inch is too far with a necromancer.

the fear of necromancy and stuff is why i kind of like the idea that in a modern world it is effectively illegal, like federal crime level illegal, but because of the rich ruling class, they tend to get away with shit. it's not so common every band and mansion has a mummy in the walls ready to strike at criminals, but it is a thing that happens either as a form of work force or horrific protection.

if you're a low level wizard you probably don't even have the means to do necromancy, and if you do, if you get caught messing with the dead it is likely jail time.

So, in this world, is it a standard fantasy world aged forward to modern day era?
Or are you doing the Shadowrun thing where one day everything is normal, the next, just poof and MAGIC!?
If it's the Shadowrun thing, how long ago was "Poof"? Are we dealing with first generation wizards? Has it been around for a handful of decades but everyone remembers the time before? Does someone's grandpa reminisce fondly about the good ol' days "before the Elves showed up and the Jones boys down the street went all Orcish" while the rest of the family tries to ignore his casual fantasy racism because he grew up in a different time?

Because I'd have to believe that the reaction and rules (both official laws and social mores) around magic are going to be wildly different in those circumstances.

Disney becomes so dedicated to holding onto the mouse they animate Walt Disney as a copyright loophole around it expiring so many years after the creators death. Because his in undeath is their legal loophole they keep his ravenous brain craving body protected in the Disney Vault. The players are hired to expire this copyright.

i would say it is kind of a low to mid fantasy world that managed to progress in tech. magic is around but fire arms exist, so wizards aren't as big of a deal because your common wizard isn't going to be bending time and reality, they can throw lightning bults but that isn't too much worse than guns these days.

but high end magic like undead armies and the like are largely unheard of and exist as legend.

Oh in 2e you had to be super-duper-powerful to make permanent skeletons or zombies which didn't quite mesh with how common they were

The answer to this and your previous question is that the rules for classes, spells and such are for PCs. They are absolutely not for NPCs. The NPCs and monsters controlled by the DM are not and should not be limited to the spell lists in the books or the PC oriented classes.

This was only true for 4e and beyond. Prior to that it was explicitly the opposite

Mokdorans!
They’re humongous whale-like creatures that always have their mouths open, so folk use them as moving bars and hotels.
They’re made of a metal that is constantly on the verge of melting on the outside, but their insides are super cold.
Legends say they were breed by some mad earth plane warlord for use in an invasion, but now they just float around.

A golden pendant in the form a seashell. Originally part of a bigger chain, now attached to a thin leather band.
When a drop of blood touches the pendant it is absorbed and the shell momentarily shimmers red.

Bonus Action: After a successful melee attack you can restore 2d4+2 hitpoints to yourself.
Reaction: After being hit with an attack you can restore 2d4 +2 hitpoints to yourself.

If you use either of these features, the pendant turns dull and can't be used again until you complete a long rest.

This is for level 3 PCs. It's basically a neverending healing pot, but you don't have to use an action. Is it too wordy/complicated?

/edit: I'm vaguely planning to use the absorbed blood for a long term thing, so I would definitely keep a hidden tally of how often they use it, and with who's blood.

Invocation: Grip of Shadow
Prerequisite: Pact of the Blade feature
You may now use your Pact of the Blade feature to create up to 3 Pact Weapons, or to transform up to 3 magic weapons into Pact Weapons.
When you use your Pact of the Blade feature to create or conjure Pact Weapons, you may summon any number of them as an Action, a single Pact Weapon as a Free Action, or two Pact Weapons with the Light property as a Bonus Action (or two of any one-handed weapon if you also have the Dual Wielder feat).

Invocation: Shadowfell Attunement
Prerequisite: Improved Pact of the Blade Invocation
While you are wielding a Pact Weapon of any kind, you may ignore the somatic components of any Warlock spell you cast.
When attacking with any number of ranged weapons, you may ignore the loading and ammunition properties of any weapon you are wielding, and do not require a free hand to load ammunition into your ranged weapons. In addition, ammunition fired from your Pact Weapons count as magical for the purposes of overcoming damage resistance or immunity.
In addition, you may now conjure one-handed ranged weapons with your Pact of the Blade feature, such as Hand Crossbows, and transform such weapons into Pact Weapons.

the first one could do with a better name, but I enjoy the second one since it riffs off the source of a Hexblade's power. They could both probably use a bit of tuning, like a level requirement or suchlike.

also undead backed protection would probably be at big banks. local branches in the suburbs probably aren't nearly important enough to waste such a thing on. maybe it has armed guards, but that's probably about it.

unless there was a secret artifact stored there. or something dramatic.

Iunno, i am spit balling ideas hoping someone wants to run with these, because that is how i operate.

A golden pendant in the form a seashell. Originally part of a bigger chain, now attached to a thin leather band.
When a drop of blood touches the pendant it is absorbed and the shell momentarily shimmers red.

Bonus Action: After a successful melee attack you can restore 2d4+2 hitpoints to yourself.
Reaction: After being hit with an attack you can restore 2d4 +2 hitpoints to yourself.

If you use either of these features, the pendant turns dull and can't be used again until you complete a long rest.

This is for level 3 PCs. It's basically a neverending healing pot, but you don't have to use an action. Is it too wordy/complicated?

/edit: I'm vaguely planning to use the absorbed blood for a long term thing, so I would definitely keep a hidden tally of how often they use it, and with who's blood.

Are your characters squishy? Do they need the hit points regularly? I mean it's basically a healing potion (which is usually an action) so it does make it better/more powerful than a regular thingie, do you know what your players want in general?

A golden pendant in the form a seashell. Originally part of a bigger chain, now attached to a thin leather band.
When a drop of blood touches the pendant it is absorbed and the shell momentarily shimmers red.

Bonus Action: After a successful melee attack you can restore 2d4+2 hitpoints to yourself.
Reaction: After being hit with an attack you can restore 2d4 +2 hitpoints to yourself.

If you use either of these features, the pendant turns dull and can't be used again until you complete a long rest.

This is for level 3 PCs. It's basically a neverending healing pot, but you don't have to use an action. Is it too wordy/complicated?

/edit: I'm vaguely planning to use the absorbed blood for a long term thing, so I would definitely keep a hidden tally of how often they use it, and with who's blood.

Are your characters squishy? Do they need the hit points regularly? I mean it's basically a healing potion (which is usually an action) so it does make it better/more powerful than a regular thingie, do you know what your players want in general?

Thanks for the reply!

They are squishy, yes and have specifically asked for healing pots. I will give them some (opportunity to buy and/or as advance for a quest), but figured, why not make a fun item out of it. I'm not sure I'm getting you, do you feel it's too powerful? or too mundane?

Well it's more powerful that a standard healing potion due to it's action economy and it's also saving them buttloads of money as they get a free healing potion, but I mean for me, that isn't exactly a magic item I'd seek out, but if that's what they want, then it'll be fine.

One thing to note is that those sort of healing items are really good if you have a token healer in the party- it means they can use their spells and actions on fighting and damaging stuff rather than having to save them for healing all the time. That can be really good for someone playing a cleric or bard or druid who doesn't just want to be a healer.

Less good if you have a dedicated healer in the party who wants that to be their role.

I've been setting up a campaign for The One Ring, and man you don't realize how much Middle Earth is just fucking Mad Max until you actually get to writing adventures here. I wanted to start with a simple adventure with players helping a merchant get to a trade center and I'm struck by the fact there seems to be precisely fucking nothing, to not even mention places with any actual trade, west of the Misty Mountains until you hit Bree and the Shire. All the roads are broken and all the placenames are "this used to be a city, now it's ruins".

It’s been my long-standing account that high fantasy by its very nature is post-Apocalypse.

Think about it: delving into ruins, secret things locked away, demon cults, forbidden lands, forgotten gods, untamed wilds bigger than nations, age of the elves all but over, barbarians pushing against the remaining settlements. All the old standbys point to a civilisation, or even layers of civilisations, having ended before your adventure begins.

If you look at the Third Age over it's history, like, Sauron is winning. He's so close to ultimate victory. At the beginning of the Age you've got Arnor, Gondor, Eregion, the Elves of Greenwood and Lindon who hold the ancient power of the West and might oppose him.

End of the Age? Eregion is gone, Arnor is a ruin, Gondor is a shadow of itself, Lindon is barely populated, Greenwood is Mirkwood, Rivendell is mostly empty, Lorien too... Like he's poised to crush Gondor and if he does that's it, none of the other realms can stand against him. Pelennor Fields is literally "win or the world is lost to Darkness forever"

I still wanna do a modern fantasy city game one day, or even just make it up as a thought exercise.

My first thought was through the lens of skateboarding, but that’s kinda niche on an already niche thing.

Maybe just play it completely straight, it was D&D land, and it just progressed. In that sense I might rewatch a bit of The Legend of Korra.

Really the whole hook of modern D&D is having a reason for an orc to wear a hat and coat while lighting her cigar. Plus demon possessed motorbike. Plus triton Triad.

The Craft Sequence by Max Gladstone could be a great reference for this. Just gonna paste in the Amazon blurb for book one, 'Three Parts Dead:'

A god has died, and it's up to Tara, first-year associate in the international necromantic firm of Kelethres, Albrecht, and Ao, to bring Him back to life before His city falls apart.

Her client is Kos, recently deceased fire god of the city of Alt Coulumb. Without Him, the metropolis's steam generators will shut down, its trains will cease running, and its four million citizens will riot.

Tara's job: resurrect Kos before chaos sets in. Her only help: Abelard, a chain-smoking priest of the dead god, who's having an understandable crisis of faith.

When Tara and Abelard discover that Kos was murdered, they have to make a case in Alt Coulumb's courts?and their quest for the truth endangers their partnership, their lives, and Alt Coulumb's slim hope of survival.

Set in a phenomenally built world in which lawyers ride lightning bolts, souls are currency, and cities are powered by the remains of fallen gods, Max Gladstone's Craft Sequence introduces readers to a modern fantasy landscape and an epic struggle to build a just society.

This is a setting where's there's absolutely zombies and "debt zombies" for warehouse labor, and the security system in a bank would involve reality-eating demons waiting in the walls.

What about a utopian city with all necessities available for free. Food, housing, basic clothing, whatever. All provided by an immortal necromancer/possibly lich-like creature under one condition: When you die, your bones and spirit join the workforce that provides all these things for the residents. It's a place of opulent luxury, breathtaking art, and diverse cuisine.

Yet beyond the city walls, vast fields tilled by blankly staring skeletons as far as the eye can see. Glowing spirits patrol the sewers, watching for monsters.

And within the castle of the city's king? Well, that's where the true horrors may or may not lie.

Basically exactly that and the living are all the way into it, worshipping their skeleton king as a god and are honored to have their dead picked clean by undead vultures to serf in the skeleton army beyond death.

It does present the issue of setting up adventures, though. Like the game suggests doing things like having the players go out to face things threatening villages, but there are no villages. There is mention of merchants but how in the balls can you have merchants in a place where there seems to be, far as I can tell, only one road that is actually still kind of a road and basically no centers of population with anything worth trading (because we know the Hobbits of the Shire don't trade for shit) between the Lhun and the Misty Mountains. There is, far as I can tell, nothing at all, to a point that it's honestly a bit disbelief-breaking that, like, Bree exists in its current form.

My plan is to straight up start making up a lot of settlements. Humans have this annoying tendency to set up anywhere where there is space and tillable soil, and Arnor fell a thousand years ago. There has been time for people to start trying to move back in.

we all make fun of the warhammer universes for being overly bleak (the phrase grimdark coming from 40k of course) but it almost leads to there being more nuance to it?

like, yeah, undead evil skeleton mummies, and yeah a lot of the mortals in the tomb kingdoms are undeniably slaves, buuuuuuut is it worse than being a bretonnian peasant? is it worse than being a mortal in Von Carsteinn land?